Martino: "If we lose, Messi's absence will be no excuse"

Tata Martino used the press conference ahead of Tuesday's game against Celtic to analyse Messi's absence: "It isn't easy to replace the best player in the world, but we have a great squad. If we don't have a good night and lose, we won't use his absence as an excuse."

"I don't see Messi's absence being be a problem for the other players," he added regarding the Argentine player's injury.

Martino did not rule out playing Song: "We've considered it, but not just for this game. It's something we're thinking about. I see him more as a central midfielder than a holding midfielder, which would unbalance the team."

Recalling last season’s defeat he said that "everybody says that this game will be the same, but we’ll see. We have to be much quicker, more mobile and accurate. We have to move the ball a lot to counter their momentum."

In the role of false "9", Leo is more of a striker and Cesc more of a playmaker. I haven't ruled out playing Neymar or Alexis as a false number "9". We have several options, even Sergi Roberto has played in that position," the Barça manager said.

"The Barcelona team, players and coach are meticulously analysed on a continual basis. We have to continuously improve," Martino concluded.